Tortoise share "Works and Days" single

TORTOISE RELEASE "WORKS AND DAYS" THE LATEST FROM NEW ALBUM TOUCH OUT OCT 24 ON LP / CD / DIGITAL DOWNLOAD OUT NOV 11 ON ALL STREAMING PLATFORMS ADVANCE ALBUM LISTENING PARTIES SCHEDULED AT MORE THAN 150 RECORD STORES WORLDWIDE ON OCTOBER 18 BAND TO PERFORM ORCHESTRAL ARRANGEMENTS OF NEW SONGS & CLASSICS AT SPECIAL CONCERT WITH THE CHICAGO PHILHARMONIC

Photo by Heather Cantrell

Today, September 30th, Tortoise — the iconic ensemble that "reset the stage for what might fit within indie rock" (MOJO) — share "Works and Days," a patiently unfolding lattice-work of percussive shuffles, beguiling guitar figures, and iridescent synthesizer melodies. The song is the latest preview from Touch, the first new album from the groundbreaking group since 2016, out via International Anthem and Nonesuch Records on LP, CD, and digital download on October 24, 2025, and on streaming services on November 11. The new single also arrives with a perspective-shifting, slightly askew slice-of-life video directed by Alee Peoples. Listen to “Works and Days” and preorder Touch here. The band also announces a very special global event on Saturday October 18th, when more than 150 independent record stores around the world will host advance listening parties for Touch in their spaces, and also make the album available for in-person attendees to purchase (a full week before the album’s release). Full details and participating locations are compiled on International Anthem’s website here.   With Touch, the Tortoise band members — Dan Bitney, John Herndon, Douglas McCombs, John McEntire, and Jeff Parker — harness their collectivist songwriting approach, a slightly anarchistic but resolutely egalitarian process where ideas triumph over ego towards an abstracted muscularity. While there are still excursions into the dusky, elegantly gnarled jazz ambience that flourished on landmark works like Millions Now Living Will Never Die and TNT, Touch is perhaps most remarkable for Tortoise's unapologetic embrace of grand gesture. Aerodynamically re-engineered Krautrock, hand-cranked techno rave-ups, and pointillist desert guitar panoramas are all imbued with Tortoise's now-signature internal logic — equally alluring and confounding, a puzzle to be savored rather than solved. The stylistic diversity is also a reflection of the band's current operating circumstances: With two members now in Los Angeles, another in Portland, and just two remaining in the band's Chicago hometown, their creative process has shifted dramatically from when they lived together in a loft space in the late 1990s, honing their sound over endless hours of collective experimentation. Recorded between the three cities — Los Angeles, Portland, and Chicago — Touch is the result of an intentional effort by these five musicians to reconnect, recenter, and reinvigorate their sound for what is perhaps the group’s most diverse release to date. (Read more about Tortoise, their ground-breaking sound "informed by everything from jungle to Krautrock and musique concréte," and the creation of Touch in a feature that ran September 19 over at The Guardian.) A series of special live shows is planned through the end of the year, including The Broad Museum in Los Angeles, a three-night weekend stand at NYC's Bowery Ballroom, and two shows at the Barbican for EFG London Jazz Festival. On November 11th they collaborate with the Chicago Philharmonic for the first time in a special concert at The Auditorium in Chicago, where they will perform Tortoise songs new and old with arrangements written by Sean O'Hagan (High Llamas), Nate Walcott (Bright Eyes), Paul Von Mertens (Brian Wilson), and the band's own Jeff Parker. Tortoise will then embark on European tours in early 2026, with more dates to be announced soon. The full list of confirmed dates and ticket links is below. "Works and Days" is out now, listen to it here.  Touch is out October 24, preorder it here. Touch cover art TRACKLIST Vexations Layered Presence Works and Days Elka Promenade à deux Axial Seamount A Title Comes Rated OG Oganesson Night Gang CREDITS All music written and performed by Tortoise Tortoise is Dan Bitney John Herndon Douglas McCombs John McEntire Jeff Parker Viola on “Promenade à deux” - Marta Sofia Honer Cello on “Promenade à deux” - Skip VonKuske Field Recordings on “Works and Days” - Tucker Martine Recorded at Flora Recording and Playback, Portland OR; 64 Sound, Los Angeles CA; Electrical Audio, Chicago IL Mixed at Soma Electronic Music Studios, Gladstone OR Recorded and Mixed by John McEntire Mastered by Dave Cooley at Elysian Masters, Los Angeles CA Scorpion Photography - Heather Cantrell Scorpion Sculpture - Martin McEntire Collage Image - Paw Grabowski Layout and Design - Jeremiah Chiu   TOUR DATES Los Angeles CA - Saturday October 18th - The Broad - tickets Austin TX - Thursday October 23rd - Radio/East - tickets Marfa TX - Saturday October 25th - Flying Island - tickets Chicago IL - Tuesday November 11th - The Auditorium w/ Chicago Philharmonic - tickets Lexington KY - Wednesday November 12th - Singleton Center for the Arts - tickets New York NY - Friday November 14th - Bowery Ballroom - SOLD OUT New York NY - Saturday November 15th - Bowery Ballroom - SOLD OUT New York NY - Sunday November 16th - Bowery Ballroom - tickets London UK - Saturday November 22nd - Barbican - 1st show SOLD OUT, matinee show added Bristol UK - Sunday November 23rd - The Prospect Building - tickets Leeds UK - Monday November 24th - The Irish Centre - tickets Helsinki FI - Tuesday January 20th - Tavastia - tickets Stockholm SE - Wednesday January 21st - Fasching - tickets Karlsruhe DE - Thursday January 22nd - Tollhaus - tickets Lille FR - Friday January 23rd - Aeronef - tickets Brussels BE - Saturday January 24th - Brussels Jazz Festival - tickets Perugia IT - Sunday January 25th - Teatro del Pavone - tickets Frankfurt DE - Monday January 26th - Zoom - tickets Köln DE - Tuesday January 27th - Kantine - tickets Paris FR - Wednesday January 28th - Le Trabendo - tickets Berlin DE - Thursday January 29th - Großer Sendesaal des RBB - tickets Dresden DE - Friday January 30th - Beatpol - tickets Hamburg DE - Thursday April 9th - Kampnagel - tickets Den Haag NL - Friday April 10th - Rewire Festival - tickets Brugge BE - Saturday April 11th - Cactus Club - tickets München DE - Sunday April 12th - Technikum - tickets Salzburg AT - Monday April 13th - jazz:it - tickets Graz AT - Tuesday April 14th - Orpheum - tickets St. Gallen CH - Wednesday April 15th - Palace - tickets Fribourg CH - Thursday April 16th - Fri-Son - tickets Braga PT - Sunday April 19th - Theatro Circo Lisboa PT - Monday April 20th - Culturgest Stay connected with Tortoise: Website | Instagram | Facebook